DeSantis signs decree on influx of immigrants in Florida

() — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a decree on Friday to activate the Florida National Guard and direct state law enforcement agencies to provide resources to help local governments with the influx of immigrants into the Florida Keys, his office said in a news release.

A critic of President Joe Biden, DeSantis said in the statement: “As the negative impacts of Biden’s illegal immigration policies continue unabated, the burden of the Biden administration’s failure falls on local law enforcement who lack of resources to deal with the crisis.

Dry Tortugas National Park in the Florida Keys temporarily closed to the public earlier this week “while police and medical personnel assess, provide care, and coordinate transportation to Key West for approximately 300 migrants who arrived at the park in recent days,” reads a press release from the National Park Service (NPS), as previously reported by .

According to the statement, like other places in the Keys, “the park has recently seen an increase in people arriving by boat from Cuba and docking on the islands of the Dry Tortugas National Park,” NPS said Monday.

On New Year’s Day alone, more than 160 migrants were found in the Florida Keys, according to a series of tweets from Coast Guard Chief of Protection Walter N. Slosar. About 88 migrants were found in the area on New Year’s Eve, Slosar said.

This is not the first time that DeSantis has used his executive powers regarding the situation of migrants.

Last year, he sent Florida police to Texas to provide additional support at the border.

‘s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.